Amusing!
by DeltaEnlightment
Summary: Can't you see she's lying? Hermione Granger has a dark past, and a blurry future. With her being the sister of a homicidal maniac, and being a killer herself. Her "friends" at school find they know nothing about her, but do they want to know the girl behind all the lies and secrets? What will happen when they meet the girl who thinks life is nothing but a joke within the music?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Batman.

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Hermione

The owls brought in the morning mail as they did every day. I had the Daily Prophet mailed to me, and usually Harry or Ron looked at it before I even get a good glance at it. Lately the prophet had been focusing on muggle news, mainly the events that were happening in the city where my brother and I lived. They were trying to take the nervousness from the Dark Lord being back away and trying to make it seem like the magic community had it so much better than the muggles.

"Hey! Look at this! Thy finally caught the mad man who has been terrorizing Gotham City!" Ron exclaimed. I was shaken out of my thoughts.

"What?" I asked, nonchalantly. Not really paying attention.

"You know that mass murderer in Gotham? The one that robs banks, and kills people for fun. That guy? They just caught him last night."

My eyes widened. "Give me that!" I snatched the paper from him.

_**BATMAN CAPTURED "THE JOKER"**_

_The mad man known as the Joker's reign of terror ended last night when the city's vigilante hero caught the insane clown last night in the process of trying to kill the mayor of the city. While the Jokers true identity is still unknown even after being caught multiple times, it seems that this time the Joker was working alone. In previous years, he has been bringing death and destruction to the city with his sister, or as she's known as The Muse. _

_While the whereabouts of this other criminal is unknown, authorities are still working on trying to find this murderer. People of this town will not feel safe until she is also caught. _

_The magical community is not allowed to interfere unless it directly involves us, so we are sorry to say, that no help be brought by us. _

"Damn it, Jack," I whispered under my breath. I shouldn't bother this time. I know I shouldn't. Though with Harley incarcerated as well… Damn.

"Did you say something, Hermione?" Harry asked.

"Oh, just wondering why they haven't caught the Joker's sister yet."

"Hermione, your parents are muggles. Have they ever been to Gotham, and taken you with?" Ron asked.

"I've told you before, Ron. My parents travel a lot, so I _live_ in Gotham over the holidays with my older brother."

"Oh, I must've forgotten." He said in deep thought. "Have you ever met the Joker or Muse?"

I rolled my eyes. "Of course. My brother isn't the best at making sure that I don't wander into something that I shouldn't and I have run into the Joker a few times."

"What about Muse?"

"I haven't seen her. She like to keep to her music. Muse usually is with her boyfriend creating terror." They both looked at me like I was crazy. "Did anything else come for me?"

"Oh yeah." Harry gave me the decoy letter. "It says it's from the Gotham police department."

I opened the letter. "It looks like my brother was arrested for speeding, and running into a road sign. Again. And my parents are in Asia. God damn it."

"What is it, Hermione?"

"I need to go talk to Professor Dumbledore. I may be gone a few days."

"Why?" Ron asked with his mouth full.

"I need to go bail my brother out of jail."

"Are you parents at all sane when they let you go live with him?" Harry asked.

"No, probably not. But I can't let my brother rot in a cell at the police station. And knowing Jack's reputation, he may end up rotting in Arkham Asylum this time through." I packed my bag with the decoy letter in hand. "Later guys.

"Do you want your paper?" Ron asked.

"No, you can keep it," I said. I don't really need to look at it.

"Do you think she is hiding something?" I heard Ron ask Harry.

"Definitely."

"Do you want to follow her?"

"Absolutely not."

I knocked on the gargoyle when I reached the Headmasters office. It slid open and I took the stairs up to the office. I knocked again on the door.

"Come in!" The headmaster called. "Ah, Miss. Granger. Is there something that I can help you with?"

"Yes, Professor. My brother was caught by muggle authorities for a driving accident that he accidently caused, and is being held in prison, and I need to bail him out. Do you think it would be okay if I was allowed to leave school for a few days to go and get this mess all sorted out?"

"I don't see why not? Your grades are the top and I don't think that you will fall behind by any means. Though I do have to ask, why can't you parents do this?"

"My parents travel for a living, and I am the only one available to go and get him out of this mess," I lied straight through my teeth.

"Alright, Miss. Granger. I will have a portkey ready for you when you come back from getting your bag for the next few days."

"Thank you, Professor Dumbledore. He lives in Gotham City, so you know where the location is."

I ran out the door and headed to my dormitory. I opened my trunk and got out my purple backpack, green messengers bag and red guitar case. I quickly checked to make sure that all my possessions that I needed where in there. I went straight back up to the office.

"Are you ready Miss. Granger?" He asked.

"Yes." He handed me a key with a chain on it.

"It will take you back when you are ready."

"Thank you," I said with a sly grin. The portkey took off. "Look out, Gotham. Muse is coming back to play!" I sang as my feet touched the ground, in an alley near the police station. I completely dropped the whole, school girl witch façade.

"Hm. I don't think I would look like someone who would be breaking her brother out of jail, now do I? I don't think a school uniform would look right." I opened my backpack. "Now let's see. Purple hair dye, black spray paint, red lipstick, red boots. Hm, do I want a red skirt or a black one? Let's go with red, shall we? Purple tank top, even if it is November. Now where is my green leather jacket?" I dug through my bag. "Screw this." I dumped it out. "Ah! There it is." All of my weapon holders, holsters and sheathes lie next to it. My weapons, grenades', bombs and gases were still in my messenger's bag.

I stripped out of my robes and uniform and shoved them, and my wand in my backpack. I put on my clothes, gloves from my bag, and weapon holders, and pulled out the weapons from my bag. All the lethal devices were concealed on my personnel. I pulled up the hood on my jacket and walked into a convenience store, with my guitar on my back and the messenger's bag in the backpack.

Of course, there was still work to be done. I walked right into the bathroom, and locked the door. I no longer looked like Hermione Granger the seventeen year old witch, though changing clothes doesn't do much, taking a glamour charm off my face that his my scars would, one long scar that traced from my forehead, the corner of my eye to me cheek, and a scar like my brother's on the left side of my mouth. People would recognize me as Jean Napier, who was supposed to have died in the same accident as her brother, seven years ago. I drenched my hair in water, and pulled out the dye from my bag. I put it in my hair, and rolled it up in a towel. I grabbed the spray paint and the makeup and I closed my eyes, and sprayed a black line across my eyes to each edge of my face.

"Bye, Jeanie," I waved to my reflection. I grabbed the red lipstick, and made it seem like my lips were bleeding. I waited for about another fifteen minutes, and took the towel from my hair, I brushed it, and curled the bottom of my purple straight hair. Contrary to belief, I actually curl my hair, every day at school it look bushy. I had very straight, stringy hair. Most of the time, it was purple, and I was born blonde, like my brothers.

"Girl! You have been in there for twenty minutes! GET OUT!" Someone yelled. Probably the manager. I exited the bathroom, with my hood up again. I wandered around the store for another half hour. "Girl, you either have to buy something or leave." I ignored the manager.

I picked up a carton of milk, and put it back down. I hummed a song that the lyrics all had to do with killing. "I am going to ask you one more time, or I am going to call the cops."

"Who ever said that I was afraid of the cops," I said darkly. The manager shuddered at my voice.

"I will ask one last time for you to leave."

"Hm, let me think about that. No." I still didn't look at the man's face. I heard him dial a three digit number on the stores phone. I was at him in a flash and held a knife to his throat, and a gun to his head.

"You have a lot of nerve to be calling the cops, kid." I hissed in his ear. He dropped the phone. The guy must've realized that he was in danger.

"W-ho are you?" the man stuttered out.

"I'm hurt that you don't recognize me. You see my brother every day." My hand found its way to the man's throat, I pressed the knife into it; blood trickled down, but it wasn't enough to kill the man. My hood fell from my face.

"M-Muse," the mad stuttered. What is it with this stuttering? It is not at all pretty, not in anyone's voice.

"Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!" I exclaimed.

"Please, let me live?" Why is this man asking me to let him live. He didn't show me kindness, or humor?

"You wouldn't let me stay in your store."

"I am sorry." I didn't blink at his sorry excuse for an apology.

"No, I don't think you are. I will enjoy, making your screams fill the air! It's music that I haven't heard in months!" I laughed, as I torture the man, creating music that could only come from a human slowly dying. Hearing them beg for mercy, savoring the emotions the emotions that they give off.

I wiped off my knife and walked out of the store. I checked the time on a clock across the street. Security at the station would be dying down for almost an hour as the day crew and night crew switched. I would go save my brother now. Jack wasn't my brother. Jack Napier had died in the same accident that Hermione Jean Napier died in. The Joker needs to be freed.

The Muse is the only one skilled enough to do it. Isn't that amusing?

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A/N: So, I'm back with a new story! The next chapter should be up by tomorrow night at the latest, if anyone likes it. Please let me know what you think! I honestly want your opinions. Please review! This story is loosely based off of the Dark Knight Trilogy, but has a lot of comic influences as well, (and obviously Harry Potter) -Del


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Batman.

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Joker

I swear, I made sure I sent that letter to Mae, but she could be late, or stuck at school, or maybe she chose to ignore me and is going to let me rot in Arkham until she gets out of school for winter. I began laughing my head off. I just realized that my seventeen year old sister went to a school for magic, and hated using it! I knew she was coming. She always came. Wait that was a lie. Muse was a muse to anyone, a siren. She lured people with her guitar, and killed 'em before they had realized what had hit them. Not only that, it was a double meaning. A_muse_ing isn't it?

"What are you laughing at, clown!" one of the guards yelled. They kept me in the interrogation room until they decided to transport me to the mad house. They figured out that I could easily break out of a holding cell. Finally. I thought all of GCPD were idiots. They don't let me have visitors…except for Batsy. Harley must be worried out in Arkham.

"The fact that you are all going to die!" I laughed and fell out of the chair.

"The clown is insane. No one is going to break him out this time. Rumor is his sister abandoned him." I smirked and laughed harder at their antics.

"The city is hoping that the siren is dead, or in jail somewhere," the second guard said.

I went up to the door. "Don't. Say. Bull. About. My. Sister!" I hissed. Neither of them shied away. There was a wall separating us, and when I was behind bars, they thought that they were above me. Ha! Like that will ever be true. They live in Gotham for Pete's sake!

"_Muse _has been gone for over three months. And if a criminal in this town goes missing, and they aren't in Arkham, then it means that they are dead. Just like anybody else."

An explosion shook the building. I laughed harder.

"OR they went to an exclusive boarding school!" I laughed even harder if that was even possible.

Harry

"Hey, Ron?" I asked. We were in the library doing homework.

"Yeah?" He didn't look up from his essay.

"Do you think that it was weird that Hermione took off right after the prophet said that they caught that insane murderer?"

"I don't know. I don't really keep up on things like that," Ron said.

"Over the summer, the events happening in Gotham were horrible. Almost as bad as the terror Lord Voldemort is bringing now. Half way through June, there was an explosion at the Asylum in the city, and some of the worst and most insane criminals escaped."

"So?" Ron became interested.

"The summer before The Joker and The Muse were both put away for killing many people in politics, cops, and others in law enforcement, as well as innocent bystanders. The Muse somehow escaped after she was incarcerated, like a week before term started, and she kept her head low until Christmas, when she killed half the security at the Asylum to free her brother. They went on a reign of terror to regain control of the criminals and put fear back into the hearts of citizens. Muse vanished a few weeks later, and wasn't seen again until the summer. The Joker had been captured again, then blew up one wing of the Asylum to free himself. How he did it was still unknown, but the Muse showed up again shortly after that. They hadn't been completely off the radar, but they didn't cause enough trouble to be easily caught. Until a few months ago."

"What happened?"

"The Joker began to go to large events, and set off bombs, rob banks, rain laughing gas strong enough to kill over the city. The Joker killed hundreds, and wasn't caught. Until yesterday. His sister vanished again, two weeks before term this time."

"And?"

"We never see Hermione over the summer holidays. _Ever. _Except for a few weeks before at Diagon Alley."

"What? You think Hermione is the Muse, don't you?"

"I never said that, but I am saying that it is a possibility."

"Harry, I think that you aren't thinking straight."

"Think about it, Ron, Hermione's parents always look terrified when they are shopping for school supplies. Like they would die if they said anything."

"Do you have a picture of the Muse?" Ron asked.

"Yes," I pulled on out of my bag. The Muse was laughing, up at the sky as she played her guitar, there was a burning building behind her.

"See, not Hermione. The Muse had a scar from her forehead, cutting off the corner of her right eye down to her cheek, and a half permanent smile. Her hair is straight, and _purple_. There is a black stripe across her eyes, and Hermione never wears make up."

"I guess you are right. I just think that it is really weird that the day the Joker is caught, that Hermione's brother, Jack, was arrested. I don't remember her ever mentioning a brother before yesterday."

"I'll ask Ginny if she knows anything. Maybe we are missing something about Hermione."

"Alright."

We didn't see Hermione for three months. She had gotten permission from Professor Dumbledore to bail out her brother, but didn't return from her trip.

The next day, there was an article in the prophet, right from the newspaper in Gotham. The headline said:

_**THE MUSE RETURNED TO GOTHAM! THE JOKER ESCAPES WITH HIS SISTER'S ASSISTANCE!**_

Muse

I entered the police station quietly, and made my way through to the holding cells without getting caught. I swear, people are so oblivious sometimes. A girl with a guitar on her back in red purple and green. They couldn't see my face, I had my hood up again.

"Girl! Are you looking for something?" One officer asked.

"Just visiting my brother. Do you know where the holding cells are?" I asked the officer politely, without meeting his eyes…letting him even seeing my face.

"Yes, they are just past that door, but you need a pass, and officer to go there with you."

"Yeah, about that, I don't think so." I released a knife into my hand, and lunged at him, and slit his throat so fast, he doesn't even know that he is dead. "I can't have screaming a symphony yet." I walked to the door, only to find it locked.

I reached to see if the officer had the keys. No such luck. "Where is that small explosion bomb?" I asked myself as I looked through the inside of my jacket. "Here we go!" I pulled the pin, rolled it to the door, and waited for the explosion. Oh how I love explosions.

All the officers and cops cam a running when it went off. I pulled out a gun and began firing at the officers that came my way. "Out of bullets. Damn." I dropped the gun and pulled out another one, and continued shooting. They dropped like flies around me. I pulled out a thing of laughing gas, and pulled the pin. I dropped it and the laughter filled the air. I heard someone scream _MUSE, _the music was richly refreshing to my ears. I couldn't play right now. I had a job to do.

I howled with laughter as I ran down the hallway, the guards in the holding cells hall were all chasing after me. I stopped and reached my hands into my pockets, and took two of the six guards down. I grabbed a gun and the other four fell, choking on their own blood. I quickly hurried to the interrogation rooms. I knew that my brother would be there. They had let him slip through his fingers with him in a holding cell about seven too many times before they realized their mistake.

I broke down the door, and saw two guards there with their guns drawn and loaded.

"Now, is that how you welcome an old friend back to her city?" I asked sweetly. I pulled my guitar from my back a gently strummed on it, using a knife for a pick.

"I came home for my brother, but found him back here. I was met with unfair cops, and guards with guns. You want to arrest me, _but I am going to be the last thing you ever hear!" _I screamed and through the knife in my hand at one guard, and shot the other. The one with knife in his shoulder screamed and screamed.

"Now, now. Can't have you screaming. You will give away my location. No we can't have that." I bent down and twisted the knife, he screamed louder. I pulled a knife with my free had and plunged it into his chest. "What a waste. You were music to my ears." I blew up the locked door. They wouldn't let guards have the keys to a criminal.

"Took you long enough!" Joker hissed.

"You would be in Arkham again if I wasn't such and upstanding student. I got here as fast as I could. My headmaster was beginning to have a second thought when I left." I grabbed as a few grenades and tossed them to Joker.

"Why are you giving these to me?" he asked.

"You really think that we would come in the way I came?" I tossed him his jacket and bag of weapons. "Make yourself useful." I began lining them across the wall. "Stand back!" I pulled a string that I had attached to all the grenades. The wall blew apart.

"Now, that my sister is a work of art."

I jumped out of the wall, and landed on my feet, three stories down. "Are you coming?" He jumped down next to me.

"Let's go home."

Joker

"So, Jack. I have a question for you. Do the words _don't get caught_ mean absolutely _anything_ to YOU!" My sister shouted. She had been silent the entire way back to the refurnished warehouse we had been calling home for eight years.

"Well, if Batsie wasn't always there to try and stop me, it would be a lot easier."

"Yet, you let him almost send you back to Arkham. **Again.**"

"Jean, it wasn't my fault. This time. Literally! I was going for a walk, at night, and the bat jumped me. All I was trying to do was get some fresh air, and maybe kill a few thugs."

"That is rich coming from you." My sister looked at me. "How many did you kill that day?"

"One henchman and four guys on the street. They didn't even catch me in the act!"

"So you were dragged back to the station, and weren't even planning anything big?"

We looked at each other, and broke into a fit of hysteria.

"Us? Planning something? That's gold!" I gasped. My sister continued to laugh.

"I imagine that they tried to get you to spill the plans of what we were doing, and my whereabouts." Muse choked.

"Mae, do you forgive me?" I laughed. She had regained her anger when I said that.

"NO! AT MY SCHOOL, I HAVE A REPUTATION TO KEEP! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!"

"So I take it you are still angry."

"ANGRY? I have the biggest tests of my life next year, and one of my friends is going on a suicide mission to try and kill this guy that wants the magic community to be _purified _of all the filthy half-breeds, and dirty mudbloods. If he ever paid attention to our city, he would realize that there are non-magic people out there that could kill him before he even got one curse out. But you, are just big enough news to get in the _magical_ newspaper. I get a letter this morning, along with the newspaper. My brother has been caught again, and he will rot in Arkham for months if I don't get him out. So I had to get the headmaster to allow me to leave school so I could get you out of jail again. If I wasn't a prefect, a bookworm, and the brightest which in my year, I would be letting you rot in Arkham."

"Did I say that I am sorry?"

"Yes you did."

"Will you forgive me?"

"Only if you let me stay for a while and keep my headmaster off my tail."

"Deal. Mae, I do want to ask you something."

"And that is?"

"Hermione Granger, golden girl of Hogwarts, wants to trick her headmaster to get him off her tail, so she can ditch school?"

She punched me in the arm for that. "Think what you will. I'm going to visit Jonny."

"The insane scarecrow doctor at the asylum?"

"Yes. Why?"

He just laughed as his sister left the warehouse they called home.

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A/N: Hiya! What did you think? Let me know in a review!

About updates. They are whenever I finish writing them which can range from a few hours to a few weeks. I apologize ahead of time if it is a long period of time between updates. Any questions about the story or anything ask in a review or PM. Thanks!

Please Review!—Delta


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Batman.

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Muse

"OH, JONNY!" I called out as I entered his office. My hood was back over my head, hiding my hair and face. I sat down at his desk and put my feet up on the table. "Are you in here?"

_Mae,_

_ I am in a session with a newcomer. I will be here soon. _

_ -Jonathan _

"To bad. I was hoping that he would be here sooner."

"Mae, I thought that we both decided that talking to yourself was a bad thing?" Jonathan Crane was standing in the doorway, holding a mask in his crossed arms, his glasses were slightly tilted on his face.

"Johnny!" I cried, and jumped up from his desk. I leap into his arms and pull him into a hug. He wrapped his arms around my waist. I love him more than I can comprehend, but I can never put it into words. I'm afraid of becoming loyal to him. If I do, I feel like I will betray him to a point where it will kill me. I've never been loyal to anyone, not even Joker. Jonathan understands that I don't mean to betray him.

"I thought you were in the UK at school?"

"I was, but I came to get my idiot brother out of jail. I was sick of that place anyways."

"Mae, your education is important."

"Says the boy that has been working here since he was sixteen."

"Internship. They haven't fired me yet because I understand most patients."

"You have the mind of most patients," I whispered in his ear, taking his mask from his hands. "You also are in charge of the entire place. Though, I thought by now you would be in one of the cells in the high security floor."

"I guess you are right about the first two, but I only have been given one more chance," He said smirking a bit. He brought his lips to mine. I returned the kiss.

"You want to grab some lunch? Take an early day?"

"I can't. I need to deal with the Riddler. They dragged him in a couple hours ago. I need to make sure he gets a dose of fear into his system before he breaks out again," Jonathan sighed. I laughed. I kissed right under his ear.

"What about dinner? I think someone has missed his Mae." He smiled.

"That can be arranged." I closed the door, and kissed him again, to a point where he was against the wall.

"Good."

Jonathan

I did not expect Mae to actually come back for her brother this time. She usually ignores his letters begging her to come and break him out. Maybe it was because his girlfriend couldn't do it this time. Not that I am not glad that she is back. I am thrilled. She is my girlfriend, and I love her more than anything. I think she loves me too, she just isn't sure how to express it past the insanity in her mind.

Mae goes to this school over in England, and she says that most people there are idiots. They believe that non magical people are under them, that we should cower beneath them. Mae gets angry when she comes home, because all of the idiots who hide behind sticks and think they have power over us.

The Joker tells her to put a little fear into their hearts. I tell her to be herself, but slowly. Mae would probably scare the crap out all the freaks if she just woke up one day and wasn't this persona she has taken up for this magical school of hers.

Harry

"That's it. It's been two weeks, Ron, and she hasn't come back!" I shouted. Everyone in the common room looked at me, then glanced away again.

"I'm sure she's fine, mate. Hermione can handle herself," Ron assured.

"I agree with Harry, Ron," Ginny said from next to me. "With the Joker getting broken out of jail by his sister and the both of them out there. It worries me. Maybe she never got there to get her brother out of jail. She could have been killed before she even got to the station."

"Who knows what could have happened in two weeks in that city. We haven't heard a word! She could be dead, killed, tortured or corrupted!"

"Harry calm down. What is the worst that could happen? She is a witch after all. I think that the ministry would give her a bit of slack. After all, she is in the most corrupted city in the world…" Realization came across his face. "Now I get why you are worried."

"Maybe we should go see Dumbledore, and see if he knows anything."

"Who knows? She hasn't answered any of our owls. It is almost like they can't find her," I said.

"We could go ask if she has used any magic. We could find out if she had used it to keep herself safe?"

Ginny

I remember when I first met Hermione. I always felt as if there was something off, but it wasn't anything big, and she treated me like a girl, not like another one of the guys.

Though there was always that nagging sensation in the back of my head that told me that something wasn't right. She never talked about her parents, or family. Her past was very vaguely talked about, and not mentioned too often. The first time she ever mentioned having a brother was when she went to bail him out of jail. Things like that make you wonder how well you actually know people.

What do I really know about Hermione? She lives in Gotham City over the holidays. If she is daydreaming, she talks with an American accent… and—well. I have no idea. Other than she is a smart bookworm. I am a horrible friend.

But this is how I find myself in Dumbledore's office. Harry and Ron dragging me there, and I don't pay any attention.

"Are you feeling well, Miss Weasely?"

"Oh, yes. I am fine. Just thinking, Professor."

"What about?"

"How little we actually know about Hermione." I paused. "Professor, were you the one who went to tell Hermione about magic?"

"Yes."

"Where did you find her?"

"In a hospital in Gotham. She was laughing and singing to herself. I didn't see her face or her hair until I got her to her brother. She was wearing a jacket with a hood covering her face, over what I think they called a strait jacket."

"Professor, you know those are only used in mental hospitals and prisons, right?" Harry asked.

"Maybe this was a special case. I told the doctors that I was bringing her to a school for others like her."

"I wonder if she has anything from her past in her trunk." Ron wondered.

"I don't think that is the best idea." But that was how we all ended up in Hermione's dorm room, staring at a trunk at the foot of her bed.

* * *

"What kind of lock is even on that thing?" I asked in wonder.

"It is a lock for a locker in a muggle school, but it looks sort of like a bike lock with the wire leading into it," Harry explained.

"How do you open it?"

"You put in a series of three or four numbers, and it unlocks."

"Well, unlock it!" Ron exclaimed.

"We don't know the code."

"We are magical. Alohomora!" Ron said, his wand pointed at the lock. Nothing happened, except a paper that flew out of the trunk.

_Naughty, naughty, you aren't getting in there by magic. Stop trying now before you are blown to oblivion. _

"Bloody hell, what is that supposed to mean!" Ron yelled.

"It's a bomb. It's rigged to blow if we try to open it the correct way. We don't know the passcode so it isn't safe to open," Harry said.

"How do you know?"

"The wires. How many people have wires connected to their trunks?"

"I think that it is best that we don't go through her trunk," Professor Dumbledore suggested. I looked around her stuff. I saw a few pictures on her nightstand that I never took notice of before. There was one of Hermione and a young man a few years older than her. He had messy brown hair, and glasses, he smiled a grin that made me uneasy, and his skin looked almost too perfect. The look in his eyes were ones of a madman's. The man looked around twenty, maybe nineteen. I couldn't tell. He had an arm around her shoulders, and wasn't too entirely sure if this was her brother. I picked it up and looked at the back of it. It had the words _Jonathan Crane and 'Mione G. _written on it, it was dated two years before. Hermione was fifteen when it was taken.

"Hey! What's that?" Harry asked.

"A picture I found on her table. It's of her and some guy named Jonathan."

"Is it her brother?"

I don't think so. I thought her brother's name was Jack?

"As far as I am concerned, it is," the headmaster said. "Maybe he is a childhood friend of hers?"

I took the back off the frame and a few more pictures fell out of it. One was of a man with green hair, white and red make-up on his face and scars running up his cheeks and his eyes hollowed out with black paint surrounding them, with his arm wrapped around the waist of a girl in what looked like a jester outfit that was red and black, her face painted white with her eyes heavily outlined in black. Her blonde hair was dyed red and black in some places. Both had many weapons on them, and the looks in their eyes could have scared the Dark Lord himself. I recognized the man as the Joker, but not the girl that was with him.

"WHY THE BLOODY HELL DOES HERMIONE GRANGER HAVE A PICTURE OF A MADMAN!" Ron yelled.

"I am not sure, I don't think any of us are," Harry supplied. There was one last picture. That had fallen out, and it was of Muse, but she was with another guy, he was wearing a mask that looked similar to a scarecrows. He was wearing a somewhat shredded suit and was holding onto the purple haired villainess.

"I think there may be something that Hermione isn't telling us," I said, looking at the photo that was still on the ground. This one was of Muse, and a man in slightly shredded suit and a mask like a scarecrows, but this was meant to scare people, not crows. Scarecrow. What were these doing in her picture frame? There were a few others in frames of her and a blonde haired man at different places around the city; he must have been her brother. She looked happy. I had never seen her that happy before. Hermione must feel like she belongs there more than here.

"We need to stop snooping around Hermione's stuff. If she hangs around these people when she isn't in school, there might be a darker side to her than we thought. I don't think I want to know what she has hidden in here," I said and quickly exited the room. The rest quickly followed.

"They finally caught Muse!" Colin Creevy yelled, he was holding a newspaper in front of his face in the common room. The room buzzed with relief.

"What about the Joker?" Someone called out.

"Still loose, but he is in hiding. It wouldn't be a good idea to release his sister so soon. He could get caught too quickly."

"So we got, what, a good two months on our hands of the world being free of one homicidal maniac?" Harry asked. "We still have a ton more out there, Voldemort being one of them."

"What was she caught doing?" I asked.

"She set a combination of SmileX and Fear Toxins across an amusement park. Twenty died laughing about their fears coming to life. Six employees were killed by knife with a smile carved into their faces and three were shot.

"Whoa." I was shocked.

No one knew what to say. The common room eventually ended up with less people.

"I hope Hermione wasn't one of the ones at the amusement park," Harry said.

"She is too smart for that," I said. "And based on the pictures up in her dorm, I think that she is safe from Muse."

"It still worries me. Whatever happens, I just want her to be safe."

"I think that we need to go and get her from Gotham and lock her up here so she can never go back!" Ron spat.

"Don't you think you are being a bit over protective?" I asked.

Ron glared at me. "No. She isn't safe there. I want her back where she belongs!"

"Do you think that she may belong there more than she belongs here?" Harry asked.

"I not sure. She seemed almost happy that she was going to back to Gotham. _And she was going to break her brother out of jail," _I said.

"I think we leave her be for a while. She may be mad at her brother, and they might have some stuff to work out before she can come back."

The next morning, the three of us got a letter from J. Granger. Hermione was back in the hospital and would be for the next two months. We wouldn't see her again until the middle of December.

Jonathan

I walked down the hallway of the high security section to a cell at the end. I unlocked the door and slipped into the room. There was a soft voice singing softly about murder. She looked up when I entered. I put a finger to my lips. Mae nodded and continued to sing, before laughing quietly. She tugged at her jacket. I closed the door behind me.

"The cameras are cut, I can only keep it like that for two hours, or someone will get suspicious," I breathed. I went and undid the straps on her strait jacket. "Your brother sent letters to your school. He said that he couldn't get you or Harley out for another two months. It is too risky to do it any time before. All the guards are on high lookout for Joker."

"So I am stuck here?" She asked. She laughed out loud. "That won't worry my school _at all_. They will try and get me out of here, claiming that the nurse at school can cure me with her "potions" and to hell with it. They think I am in a regular hospital, not an asylum for the criminally insane."

"Did you use the toxins?" I asked.

"Yes, but I combined it with SmileX. If I hadn't wanted to see the reaction, I wouldn't be here," She laughed.

"You know how much I love you?" I asked her. Her eyes just shined. She pulled me to her and kissed me sweetly. "Is that your way of saying that you love me too?"

"You know why I can't. I want to, but I'd put you in danger from the world of magic," she said. "Once I go back to school, I have to finish out the year, and break the twig in half. I don't want to be leading a double life anymore."

"You'd choose me, your brother, and a life running from the cops and Batsy, than a life filled with wonder, and mystery?" I asked.

"I don't want to be hiding from the world. If I choose magic, than I leave my family behind. I can't do that. I wouldn't be hiding from the world. In Gotham, I'm not afraid of getting caught, or hiding my face. There, I can't even show them my face without a glamour charm on because of my scars. I have to make my hair frizzy every day, and I have to dye it all the time," She choked out.

"Mae, you can start over, have a clean slate. Don't you want that?" All she did was shake her head.

"I rather be sitting in a cell here than pretending a love a red head, and that I am an innocent little bookworm. I'd worry to mush about you, and Jay, and the rest of the rouges. You are my family, even if I am untrustworthy."

"You remind me of my cousin at times. You both are so loyal but not loyal to your family that you are willing to give up one life for the other."

"Has he made a decision yet?"

"No. But you have, and you chose me." My lips met hers again, and she wrapped her arms around my neck.

"We are what keeps Gotham on its toes, of course I chose you." She kissed me, and I held onto the girl I loved until I had to leave.

What happened to me that made me fall in love with the scarred, purple haired girl, I don't know. But I am never letting her go.

* * *

A/N: So… What did ya think? I would love to hear your thoughts!

Thank you to the six followers from the first two chapters. I have never gotten that many from two chapters of a newly published story!

Also, romance is not my point of expertise. Please don't judge for my crappiness.

Please REVIEW! –Delta


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Batman.

* * *

Joker

Mae has been home for two weeks, and she has still put off going back to her school for the crazies. Which is saying a lot coming from me. I think Crane has been putting something into her drink to make her believe that education isn't important.

Who am I fooling! I don't want her to go back. She is a genius without schooling. At this very moment, she is in the basement of our hideout trying to figure out how to mix SmileX with Fear Toxins without them exploding. Which is why she is in the basement.

The ground shook for the fourth time this morning a second ago. "JEAN ARE YOU DONE YET!" I yelled.

"Two more minutes!" she called back. Another few explosions and she came running up the stairs. "Got any useless goons hanging around?"

I screamed for one. Four came running. "You three can leave. You get to try out this one," I said. Mae (aka my sister Jean.) smiled maliciously at the goon.

"So you get to stand there, Jay can go to another room, and I get to do this," She sang, then sprayed a mist of lethal toxins in the unsuspecting goons face. He fell to the floor. And began to do a mix of screaming, laughing and clawing at his face. Mae exited the room.

"Do you think it worked?" She asked as she bounced into the hall?

"I believe that Gotham has an even better reason to fear you, Mae." She grinned, and went to mass produce the new toxin.

* * *

I was watching cartoons a few hours later, (you don't get to judge me!) when the channel turned to a news station by itself. Headline being _**Muse Captured After Causing Attack at Local Amusement Park!**_

"MAE!" I roared at the screen.

"Calm down, Joker," A voice from behind me said. I turned. Scarecrow was there in his full costume.

"What do you want?"

"She is safe. So is your girlfriend. Muse is back in the Asylum, and they are on high guard for you to come get her out right now."

"Tell me, Scarecrow. Why was my sister caught?" I hissed.

"She stayed to watch the results to her new toxin. They caught her off guard."

"When will it be safe to get the two girls in my life out of the asylum?"

"Not sure. Write a letter to her school explaining why she won't be coming back for a while."

He left then. Why did my sister ever fall for him? I better write those letters. Maybe I shouldn't put laughing gas in these letters?

Harry

_Dear Friends of Hermione,_

_I am her brother Jack, and I hate to tell you but my sister is back in the hospital. She has an unstable mental condition that reappears at weird times that her doctors and the city's government force her to go back to the hospital to regain her mind. Many people in our disorganized family have this condition even if none of us are related. She won't be able to come back to school until the beginning of December. She is safe, so don't worry about her. Jonathan, Hallie, (my girlfriend) and I are taking good care of her. _

_-J. Granger. _

I stared at the letter.

"What are we going to do?" I asked.

"We need to show this to McGonagall so she knows why Hermione isn't in school," Ginny said.

"Don't you think that this whole thing is a little strange?" Ron asked. "We all thought that she'd be back by now, and we find out she is back in the hospital with a mental condition. Does that strike any suspicion at all?"

"Is everything alright here?" I looked up.

"Hello Professor McGonagall. You might want to see this." I handed her the letter. She read it in shock.

"This doesn't seem good. Does the Headmaster know yet?" We shook our heads. "I will go contact him, and Miss. Granger's brother. I'd like to meet her doctor and discuss her condition." She left with the letter in hand.

Jonathan

"You needed me Joker?" I asked as I entered the warehouse.

"Mae's school wrote. They want to meet my sister's doctor, which just happens to be you. They are coming by this afternoon to take you to the school, or they are sending something to get you there." I heard a screeching coming from the window. "FREAKING OWLS!" he yelled and pulled out a gun and shot the owl thirteen times.

"Was that really necessary?" I asked. I grabbed the letter from the owl. There was a pen inside of it, and it was supposed to leave in an hour.

"Yes. I have to be there too, so get your stuff and be back here by then. Actually, I don't want to go. You are on your own, Crane."

"You insufferable clown!" I aimed to launch myself at him.

"Ah, ah, ah." I stopped short at the barrel of a gun. "You don't want to do that."

"What do I tell them?"

"That everyone in our little, messed up, adopted family all has this unstable mental condition. I don't care."

I groaned. He was right, though. Everyone in the Rouge gallery was insane, or as I have to call it_ an unstable mental condition._

* * *

"Are you Miss. Granger's doctor?" A lady in green robes had asked me.

"Yes, ma'am. Dr. Jonathan Crane, and you are?" I asked.

"Minerva McGonagall. A pleasure Dr. Crane. If you'd follow me to my office." She walked down the hall into a classroom, and through the door to a clean organized office. "I take it Miss. Granger's parents and brother couldn't make it?"

"Yes. Her parents haven't been in contact for a while and her brother couldn't make it."

"Thank you for letting me know that, Dr. Crane, now on to Hermione."

"Yes, why did you ask me here today, Ms.—."

"Professor.

"Professor McGonagall?"

"One of my students has been out of school for two weeks, and the reason why is very vague, other than she is in a hospital."

"Well, I can tell you as much as I can, but there is this think called patient confidentially, and her brother and I are the only two on that list."

"Please tell me what you can."

"Very well then. Hermione suffers from a mental condition that can cause her mind to be disorganized, and her thoughts very scattered. She has good control for the most part, but sometimes, her mind snaps, and she loses control. She has tendencies to self-harm, can become destructive to property as well as others. Everyone has a different thing that goes with it, hers happens to be laughing, singing, and screaming nonsense. It isn't safe to let her out until she can be trusted with her mind again."

"What exactly kind of doctor are you?"

"I am a psychologist, or psychiatrist. They practically mean the same thing. I also chemist. My _medicines_ I use to help some of my patients rely on facing their fears. If their minds can handle it, they can usually be released from the hospital."

"Is that what you use on Miss. Granger?" McGonagall asked, flabbergasted.

"No, her brother usually checks her out before that stage, and I would never use it on her." I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I did.

"Does anyone else in her family suffer from this?"

"Yes, her brother does, as well as the family that they have sort of adopted as a dysfunctional family."

"Pardon?"

"Most of her friends in the Gotham. Her brother believes that the world is a joke. Pamela Isley, former botanist, believes she can talk to plants. Edward Nigma speaks in Riddles that are impossible to solve. Oswald Cobble pot has an unhealthy obsession with birds and umbrellas. Selina Kyle, she is a thief that is as slippery as a cat. Hallie Queen was a former doctor where I worked before she fell in love with an insane patient and lost her mind herself." I had to lie about her name. If I didn't, she would be related back to the Joker. "Harvey Dent, puts all of his decisions on a two sided coin. Then there is me, when I believe that I am a fear inducing scarecrow."

"I never knew that Miss. Granger had such a big family. I take it you are friends with her outside of work."

"You could say that. I don't get along with Mr. Jay that well."

"When can we expect her back here?"

"Sometime in December. I must get going."

"I would like to see if all that you are saying is true," McGonagall demanded. "I am worried, as well as her friends."

"I am afraid that I cannot make that work. She isn't allowed any visitors." This will not end well.

"Then I will go check her out of that hospital myself!"

"Your student has been in and out of there since she was nine, and most of the time, she doesn't leave legally. GCPD doesn't want her to leave again until all the madness is wiped from her mind. It is for your safety that you don't visit."

"I do not care about safety. I care about my students. Now, I will see her, even if I have to go in there and do it myself. Understand?" Her eyes were burning into my skull, even if it didn't bother me. Batsy had put me under my own fear toxins enough that it didn't bother me. Though I couldn't let her know that.

"Next weekend, perhaps." I quickly wrote down my address. "But this is the only time. Now, I need to go, so if you will please give me a way to get back home?" She took a handkerchief from her desk, and cast a spell on it.

"Thank you for your time, Dr. Crane." I didn't respond as I was jerked away from the office. I know why Mae hates the magical world.

* * *

"Welcome to my apartment!" I said with false warmth. "Please come in." the group of four oddly dressed people entered.

"It is a pleasure to see you again, Dr. Crane," McGonagall said stiffly. "This is Ginny Weasely, her older brother Ron, and the black haired boy is Harry Potter."

"It's nice to meet you. Would any of you like some breakfast? I am making coffee in the kitchen."

"No, thank you, sir," The redheaded girl politely turned down the offer. She eyed me suspiciously.

"Oh well then. You may sit in the living room, please try and refrain from touching anything on my desk or tables." I walked to the kitchen and poured a cup of coffee into my mug. "We will be leaving in a few minutes."

I breathed in deeply to inhale the sweet scent of coffee.

"I wouldn't touch that if I were you, Mr. Weasely!" McGonagall scolded.

"I wouldn't either if you weren't already immune to most poisons, like some people are in Gotham," I said. Not even turning around. It was a hand grenade I used when I was out creating chaos. "That will make all your worst fears come alive, if you touch it."

"How do you know that?" He asked.

"Because I created it. I may be a doctor, but I am also scientist. I create all the medicines and treatments that I use on my patients."

"Is that even legal?"

"Who knows? No one ever questions my methods, because all of my patients lost their minds a long time ago."

"What kind of hospital is this exactly?" Harry asked. I grabbed my briefcase form the counter and picked some folders from my desk and slipped them in, double checking that my mask was still in there.

"It is a mental hospital. The city sends them to us if they are a danger to society." I slung my suits jacket over my shirt, and fixed my glasses. I shoved some of my new _medicines_ into the briefcase near my mask.

"Shouldn't they be sent to prison?" Ginny asked.

"They wouldn't survive a day, their minds are just too fragile to handle things such as that. No, it wouldn't be good for them. If they overcome their illness, they can be released back into public." I said, grabbing my keys off the counter. "If you would follow me to my car we will be off." I walked out of the door, down the stairs to the parking garage where my car was.

We drove off to Arkham as soon as they were all situated in the backseat. We went across the bridge and to the asylum. I lead the group into the asylum, I made sure that they didn't see the name of the place.

"Good morning, Dr. Crane," the receptionist said nervously.

"Good morning as well," I greeted. "I assume everything went alright last night after I left?"

"Almost, according to the guards' gossip, Mr. Nigma tried to murder another patient again after dinner because he couldn't solve the riddle that he gave the patient."

I sighed. Why couldn't it ever be easy? "Thank you for letting me know. Have someone put him in solitary confinement. I will be in soon to handle it."

"What was that all about?" Ron asked me.

"Some of the patients have issues with violence," I said. "If you will follow me to my office, I need to go handle this before I take you to see Miss Granger." They followed me to the elevator. I took out my key and opened the doors, they got in behind me; I put the key into the keyhole, turned it and we waited for it to get to the floor with my office.

"Why are there no buttons?" Harry asked.

"It is a hazard. The patients aren't allowed on the elevator without a guard or a doctor," I explained. "Here we are." I went down to my office and unlocked it. "If you would stay here for a few minutes. Please don't leave my office." I quickly grabbed my fear toxins off of my desk and mask out of my briefcase. It was always fun to mess with the Riddler.

I went back to the elevator, and went up to the maximum security. Slipping off my glasses, I put on my mask, and went into the Riddler's cell, and closed the door.

A few minutes later, I left the cell, with Eddie screaming about scarecrows and his brain melting. I hoped that the unwanted guests had behaved themselves.

For once, people had actually listened to me when I told them to stay put. That was a lie, only the Joker doesn't listen to me, or Mae for that matter.

"When we get up to the maximum security floor, you need to stay in the hall until I come back from speaking with Hermione. Do you understand?" I asked.

"Hermione's in maximum security?" the professor asked, clearly shocked.

"There may be something's that you don't know about Hermione. Now please stay put. All of Gotham's Rouge Gallery that are captured at the moment are in there, it isn't the best idea if you went in there just yet."

"HOW SHE SAFE WITH CRIMINALS!" Ron screamed.

"They are like family to her. She has been in and out of Arkham since she was nine." I swept back down the hallway to her cell. I ignored most of the insane criminals, and swiftly unlocked Mae's cell. She was singing to herself, looking out the small window she had.

"_You kissed the lips of evil, two months is all the same. I begged for the man's approval, pray to die in vain. Sit down with thoughts alone now, with blood these lyrics came. Your words, they eat right through me, death could hear my shame*,"_ Mae sang softly. Then yelled something completely the opposite. "I AM GOING TO BURN THE WORLD!" then laughed.

"Mae," I whispered in her ear.

"Morning, Jonny. Did you sleep well? The guards didn't insult me last night," She sang. "Then again, I didn't threaten to use their remains as cat food."

"That is good."

"Are you going to undo these straps? Or even kiss me? I'm getting impatient!"

"You have visitors," told her as I sat down next to her, and kissed her cheek.

"I thought that I wasn't allowed visitors?" She questioned. Leaning in and kissed my lips. She broke into hysterics afterwards. "You really got me there Jonny!"

"People from you school. They were going to drag you back if I didn't let them see you."

"Who?"

"Two redheads, a black haired boy with a scar, and a Scottish teacher." Her eyes narrowed.

"I don't want to see them. I WANT THEM TO LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"If you don't, they will take you away from me your brother, and the other rouges," I said, and pushed a stray lock of hair out of her face.

"Fine, but that doesn't mean that I want to see them." I pulled her sweatshirt hood that the other doctors had sewn onto her straight jacket.

"I'll be back in a few," I said, and kissed her again. She tried to shove me away.

"WILL YOU UNDO THESE STUPID STRAPS?"

"Sorry, Mae." I left the girl singing to herself again, then threatening Harley to shut up before she used one of her brothers knives disguised as knives to her face.

Ginny

We waited in the hall outside of the maximum security ward in the hospital. Honestly, this place reminded me of a prison more than hospital. Ron was going on about how we needed to get Hermione out of this place immediately, as this was no place for a smart, bright girl. No place for a witch. Hospitals were of no use if you had magic to heal you. Hermione could be healed simply and never have it again. But if what Dr. Crane said was true, and that she had been in and out of here since she was nine, it probably has only gotten worse, and she was on a medication to keep it in control during the school year.

Then again, who knows what is really going on? Dr. Jonathan was in a picture on Hermione's nightstand. They could be close family friends after all these years, but it didn't sound like that. He didn't say much about her, actually, he didn't say much at all.

"It took a bit of convincing, but, Hermione will see you let you see her." We followed him down the hall. There were patients in cells that were clear in the front and had windows between them so they could talk to each other. They were all wearing orange jumpsuits. "These are most of Gotham's Rouge gallery, dangerous criminals, but all aren't right in the mind."

"You say it like it is a bad!" a lady with green skin, and a collar around her neck yelled.

"Yeah, Scarecrow! We are surprised that you aren't back in you cell like the rest of us!" Another shouted. A man with handsome features on one side of his body, even though his hair was messed up, but the other half was burned flesh, there was no skin at all, and had no hair. You could see his parts of his skull, though burnt muscle, he had no eye lids, and an eye that held insanity. It was like that almost his entire half of his body.

"Shut up! You know they gave me one last chance! I'm trying to make up for it!" Dr. Crane yelled. "Harvey 'Two-face' Dent, Poison Ivy," he said pointing to the two. "The Riddler is across from them. Next to him is Victor Fries, Mad Hatter, and Killer Croc. On the other side is Ventriloquist, next to him is Oswald Cobblepot. Then there is Harleen Quinzel. Here we are."

"Why did the deformed guy call you Scarecrow?" Harry asked.

"We all have our pasts, and our fair share of mistakes. I, myself have been a _patient _here at Arkham, and I know that it isn't all sunshine and daisies. Nor is it fun having your own medicines against you." He unlocked the door and we went in.

"_**I really always knew that my little crime would be cold, that's why I got a heater for your thighs, and I know, I know it's not you time, but bye, bye!" _Hermione sung as she laughed.

"Missy Mae! Will ya stop singing?" A girl with blonde hair yelled.

"Not in my nature Harley!" she laughed.

"Mae, you have visitors," Crane said.

"I didn't think you meant now Jonny?" she yelled. He went and undid the straps on her strait jacket.

"Mae. You knew what I meant." She turned when her arms were freed.

"Well, well, well. I believe that I am in the presence of three magic users? Right?" she sang.

"Hermione, it's us, Harry, Ron and me," I said. "We are your friends."

"I don't have any friends. I am not loyal enough to anyone to call them my friends. Even Jonny and Jay!"

"Miss. Granger, do you know who we are?" the professor asked.

"Yes. The idiots who think they have power because of a stick." I realized we couldn't see her face or hair. "Come on! Why so serious?"

"'Mione, we are here to help you," Ron said.

"I never said that I needed help!" she said in a normal voice that struck fear into me. I don't want you here. I AM PERFECTLY FINE!" She screamed and lunged at us.

Crane shoved us out of the door, and pushed Hermione back. I could have sworn that I heard someone yell "Go Muse!" But I was scared of my best friend for the first time in my life.

"Go to the end of the hall and wait for me. There is a reason why she isn't allowed visitors," Crane demanded. We ran as quickly as possible. Whatever had happened to Hermione in the past three weeks, but something had changed. And it wasn't for the better.

* * *

A/N: Another one done. Thank you to the reviewers from the last chapter! Please review! I need your thoughts on this chapter!

*I don't own the song. PM me if you can name the song. Shout out to whoever guesses it right.

** I don't own A7X or a little piece of heaven.

The next update should be by this weekend depending on my schedule. I've got some stuff going on that may keep me from updating sooner.—Delta


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Batman

* * *

Ginny

The school hadn't been the same without Hermione. Everyone knew that she was in the hospital. No one but a select few of us knew why. Honestly, I don't know why. I'm terrified of my best friend. She tried to attack us. The place she was in, I don't think was a hospital. It was more of a prison.

School continued on, though things had lost the brightness in it. No one expected the Golden Girl to get sick. No one thought she had any siblings, or that they would be criminals. I guess everyone thought she would come back and go to class sick. It's been three weeks since we went to visit Hermione. She should be coming back soon, but I don't believe that six weeks in a mental hospital will help her. Hermione cracked. I could tell that she was never going to be the same again.

Hermione wasn't the only thing that is scaring me. Ron had gone into a shell, Harry was so involved into his school work that he jumped to the top of the class in the matter of weeks.

Then there was Malfoy. No one ever saw him anymore. Apparently, he was going to live with his cousin, aunt and uncle this summer. It was in his mother's will, and his father no longer had any power over him, since he was in Azkaban. Narcissa Malfoy nee Black was murdered by the Dark Lord for defying him. He no longer strutted around the school like he owned it. His eyes lost their shine. He died his hair black, and you were lucky to see him anywhere other than class. He was the smartest in the entire grade. Harry was second.

News in Gotham was to a minimum. Everything was about the Dark Lord and his reigning terror. People were starting to worry about their never being a downfall.

The world had lost its light. Everything was falling to pieces.

Muse

I sat in my cell, waiting. I was no longer restrained. My brother was coming to get me. I laughed. Nothing could stop me when I get out of here. I am never getting caught again. I swear, my brother and I are going to destroy the world. People will be at our mercy, or die laughing. I continued to laugh.

Jonny told me that I had to stay up all night for when Jay would come. I listen to Jonny. He told Jay was coming to get me. I am counting on that. I watched out the window for hours. There was a shattering of glass above my head. A note tied to a brick. How convenient.

_Stand back baby sis. _

Oh Joker. I stood up, and laughed as the wall exploded.

"Did you miss me, Mae?" I smiled at the grinning form of my brother. I took his out stretched hand, and was pulled from the building onto the, apparent grappling hook. I was free.

"_Bye-Bye Arkham!" _Isang as I ran to the getaway car to where Harley was waiting.

* * *

"Do you have to leave again?" Jonathan asked. We were in his apartment, I was dressed in my school robes.

"Don't have a choice. I have to go or I will be in trouble with school."

"And you can't drop out?" He asked.

"Jonny, Jonny, Jonny," I said. "I need to mess with the headmaster, by showing up. I can't drop out."

"Fine, Mae. I have a cousin that goes to your school by the way."

"Since when?" I asked.

"Since my mother told me that she and her brother were disowned at age eleven. I have three older aunts and a cousin my age."

"So you are in charge of a cousin from my school."

"Yes. I'll be in London to pick him up, and you."

"Okay." I shrugged. He really does love me. I kissed him. He hugged me back, and pushed a lock of hair back.

"Never understood why Arkham destroys your hair." He was right. My hair came to my chin, and there were short bangs in the front. "Are you going as Hermione Granger, or Muse, the clown princess of Gotham?"

I smirked at him. Then laughed. "Whadda you think?"

"Hogwarts beware! Mae is coming to Hogwarts!" I laughed at my boyfriend's antics. "I love you, Mae. It's good to know that you are going as Mae, because you are going to need these." He handed me two file folders, (thick ones, might I add), and a bag that was really heavy.

"What are they?"

"Arkham doctors reports. Both are edited to say Hermione, but one actually has notes that say you were improving. The other is the real ones. The bag is to get you through the year. Plus the medicine so you don't lash out and kill anyone on the spot."

I met his lips. "You are the best." I said. "But what if it I _want _to kill that person?"

"You face the consequences, Mae."

"No. I break my wand and come home. Easy."

"Harley will _try _to keep your brother out of trouble. If not. I will be seeing both of them in Arkham as soon as time permits."

"What about you, Jonny?" I asked. "What if you blow your third chance?"

"My work becomes my temporary home." He laughed. "I am the master of fear."

"Bye, Jonathon."

"Be good, Mae."

"Aren't I always?" I pulled the portkey and was transported to the school.

* * *

"My goodness, Miss Granger!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed as I landed in her office. I fell over onto the floor. "Are you alright?"

I shrugged off my bag and guitar. "I don't like high speed travel."

"Are you sure that you are alright?" she asked again.

"I'm fine. I've been through worse in the past few months at Arkham."

"Arkham?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes. Where did you think I was?" I snapped. "The only place for the incurable!" I exclaimed, then gave a short laugh.

"You were in an asylum? We believed that you were in a hospital."

"I was. In a hospital for the criminally insane. Didn't Dr. Crane explain that to you when you came to visit? I don't remember you coming to visit but he said you did. I was really nut in the brain after too many sessions of fear gas, hypnotism, and psychiatry."

"Miss. Granger." I looked right up at her. My ranting, I realized, was not in my head.

"What?"

"Do you have doctors' slips and medical records to make account for your absence?" McGonagall asked.

"Huh?"

"Anything from the hospital."

"Oh. Yeah." I dug through my bag and grabbed two, thick file folders. One said Hermione Granger. The other said Hermione M.J. Granger. I handed her the second one. "My doctor's note that allows me to have prescription drugs is in there."

"Excuse me?" McGonagall asked.

"Medicine from Doctor Crane. It keeps me calm so I won't accidentally hurt someone."

"Miss. Granger, are you sure that you were allowed out of that hospital?"

"Am I sure? No. Did my brother believe that I needed to be in school again? Yes."

"Are you telling me your brother checked you out?"

"No. My doctors and nurses did." The professor sighed.

"Miss. Granger, you have changed quite a bit, is there anything that I can do for you otherwise?"

"Yes. I need my missing work."

"Alright, you start classes again tomorrow. I will escort you back to you common room, where you can get resettled in." The professor led me out of the room, and I began imagining way to play with the strict professor when I decide that it is time. I did want to give them all a massive heart attack right away. Cardiac arrest wasn't any fun when you haven't even given them a chance fear you, respect you, to give you honor for you _job. _It would be perfect. It is going to be my temporary playground until I leave for Gotham and never come back. Hermione Granger would be a thing of the past. When it does, they are never going to find me again.

"Miss. Granger, the new password is _versatility. _It changed a few weeks ago." We were at the portrait entrance. The fat lady was asleep. What time was it exactly? "Now if you have any questions, you know where my office is. Goodnight." And McGonagall left.

"Fat lady? Can you please wake up? Versatility." The fat lady yawned and swung open for her. "Thank you."

"Hermione!" Ginny exclaimed as I walked into the room. I quickly found myself in the arms of a very happy redhead. "When did you get back?"

"Twenty minutes ago. Had to give McGonagall information for my absence."

"Okay. What happened to your hair, 'Mione?" asked Ginny as she took in my appearance. "And look at you! You're skin and bones!"

"My hair?" I asked. I felt my hair. It was to my chin… and streaked purple where I missed dying it. "Crazy doctors, nurses, and psychiatrists make anyone with long hair chop it off. And isn't it obvious that I streaked it? It was really simple to do."

"Alright, then," she said nervously. "The boys are in the library. They shouldn't be too long. You missed supper, if that's okay."

"I would like to go to bed, if that is alright." I took my leave, and left the room, I fingered the knife in my pocket. I really should have stayed in Gotham. I don't belong here. I started my homework as soon as I avoided the roommates.

McGonagall

I saw the notice from her doctor saying that she could use the medicine given to her. And the excuse form school. I started to read her very thick folder filled with her mental health conditions. I didn't want to read it anymore after I read the first entry eight years ago.

_Hermione Mavis Jean Granger _

_The nine year old was brought in with her brother four hours ago. Both of which have been sentenced to having help until they are sane enough to be moved to Blackgate. Hermione doesn't stop singing for the most part. She screams for an instrument, then attempts to injure the nurses coming into her cell. Was placed in a straightjacket for her and those around her protection. _

_Was placed in Arkham for destruction of public property, robbery, injuring four, and killing two. Judge believed that it was possible to "cure" her and save her from getting to far lost in crime. Will be placed in foster home once deemed sane._

Hermione was nine when she was first placed in Arkham when she was nine….for _murder? _

Hermione Granger would never do something like that. She was going to be next year's head girl. Top of the class since first year, and the only time she got in trouble was for the whole Dumbledore's army incident last year, and whatever else Potter and Weasley got her into. I find it astonishing that she would even be considered a criminal. A murderer at that. And I thought that Miss. Granger had parents. Why on earth would she be placed in a foster home? I would need to talk to her after class tomorrow.

* * *

"Miss. Granger. I would like to see you after class, please," I demanded, rather than asking. She looked up at me with strands of choppy short hair in her innocent looking eyes.

"Professor, I have potions right after transfiguration, and Professor Snape will be very pissed off that I haven't been in class since September. Don't want to make the greasy snake angry, now do we?" she asked sweetly, but her eyes held venom.

"You will see me after class. One more missed potions won't hurt a bit," I said, I wandered off to go watch other students.

"That was interesting. Why did you call Snape a snake instead of bat?" Ron asked her, I might have been keeping an eye on Miss. Granger.

"I only reserve the title of bat for a rather large bat that I know very well back home." She laughed.

"I'm guessing you like this bat?" Weasley suggested. Three thing happened after that.

"ME! Like BATSY?" she shrieked with laughter. She fell over with laughter. Then stood up. "Wait." She stared at the red head, analyzing him. "HOW COULD YOU EVEN SUGGEST THAT? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY TIMES HE HAS PUT ME IN ARKHAM FOR JUST EXSISTIG?" Hermione screamed in anger, grabbing Ron's wrist in a blind rage.

"'Mione, you're hurting me," he gasped.

"Good. Pain, anger, fear, is what I live off of. When there is nothing else in the world for you," she said in a low menacing voice. There was a sickening crack in the room, and Ron was holding his wrist that was no longer in Hermione's grasp. There was a bruise in the shape of a hand, and it was bent the wrong way. The bell rang signaling class was over. Hermione went up to my office, as if nothing had happened.

"Mr. Weasley? Are you alright?" I asked.

"I'm okay professor, I think I need to see the nurse."

"Mr. Potter, take him to the nurse, and get to class. I need to go speak with Miss. Granger."

"Yes Professor," he said and helped Ronald out of the room. I headed up to the office where there was a mix of singing, shouting, and, what I think was her talking to herself. I found her sitting on my desk, playing with a deck of cards that seemed a lot thicker than normal cards.

"Miss. Granger! Get off my desk, now!" I yelled.

"Why? It isn't like it will break," she said bluntly.

"Off. Now." She got off. "Now, if you will be so kind to tell me about that performance in class?"

"I wasn't acting."

"Miss. Granger, you exploded at your best friend going from hysterics, to anger, to terrifying in fourteen seconds flat."

"Did you not read my file at all? All the barriers I have my magical guardians put up in my mid broke. They aren't coming back."

"Your file is what I wanted to talk to you about. You have been in and out of Arkham since you were nine?" I asked incredulously.

"Yep."

"You were sent there for murder, when you were nine."

"My brother and I never claimed to be the smartest, and I never meant to kill them, they were in my way."

"Miss. Granger. You file said that if you could be helped that you were to be sent to a foster home. Why would you be sent there when you have two parents to go home to?"

"Because I don't, McGonagall. My brother and I haven't seen our parents in almost a decade. My brother is my guardian, and neither of us are very right in the head, and we never were, and they went missing, or they took off. We never were sure. Jack got a job at a chemical plant, and we both got in an accident. A lot of what I do is hard for me to remember," Hermione said. Though, I think she was lying. There was a glint in her eyes that worried me.

"I have seen your parents before. The Grangers are very kind people," I stated.

"The Grangers are my magical guardians." I was shocked by that. "My brother and I use that last name when we need one. We dropped the one we were born with years ago. I usually go by Jean or Mae."

I found out things about the girl that everyone thinks that they know well. Most of what I know about Hermione Granger is fleeing. The innocent girl I thought I knew is no longer there.

"Did you take your medication this morning?" I asked.

"Medication?" She looked up at me. "I guess I didn't." The medication that was supposed to help her wasn't even helping her.

"I have one last question, who is "Batsy?"

She glowered at me. "My parole officer."

"Thank you. You may leave." And she did.

* * *

A/N Long wait. No excuse.

Things you need to know.

I may not get a chapter up before next month

Mavis in Hermione's name is instead of "Muse" or "Mae" just so we are clear.

I know that there wasn't much in Gotham. There will be in the upcoming chapters.

If you have any other questions, please PM me or review.

I think I covered everything. Thanks for reading, and review! –Delta.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Batman.

* * *

Muse

Lies, lies, LIES. Oh the lies I told McGonagall with partial truths. My brother will be so proud of me. No one will suspect a thing. Though McGonagall is suspicious of me. Maybe it was because I killed two people when I was only nine? Wait. I slaughtered more people when I was nine than two—then again, my brother and I did break out a few weeks after we were incarcerated. I laughed at the fact of how oblivious the magic wielders are. They think they are all that. All powerful because they can use a stick. HA!

Maybe that was why the weasel's bone was so easy to snap… maybe the rest of him is like that. Stop it Muse. Control from within. Don't let the _creative_ side of you get the best of you. Here, you are Hermione Granger. Let them think that for just a little while longer. Even if the redhead deserves it. Mae! I have control. I have control.

I can make it through a few more weeks, then the rest of the school will be gone for Christmas, and I can catch up on school work, and maybe cause a bit of chaos. Ugh! This was why the Grangers put mental blocks up every year! To keep my insanity away, and to keep me focused on my studies! Maybe I should tell Ronald I'm sorry to keep up the act a tad bit. I did break his arm, after all. I burst into laughter again. I've broken hundreds of arms, I don't even feel guilty! Appearances, Mae, appearances.

Dungeons are so dreary. Why am I in them, again? Oh right, potions. That was why I had an excusing slip. I slipped into the classroom when I saw it.

"Miss. Granger! Would you mind explaining why you are _three and a half months late to my class?_" Snape seethed.

"Jeez! You would've though McGonagall told you. I was in a hospital slash prison for my "mental issues"," I said using finger quotes, "and my brother said that I needed to at least get enough therapy not to injure everyone I saw, even if it is by complete loss of control," I explained mostly to myself.

"Well, then, did you stay do anything?"

"If I have been in and out of that place since I was nine, do you think that it did anything?" I asked. Snape sighed.

"Miss. Granger, please take your seat next to Mr. Malfoy because he seems to be the only one without a partner today," Snape pointed to the back of the classroom. The ferret glared at me. I sat down next to him, and observed what he was doing. Why was the ferret's hair black?

"Aren't you going to help, Granger?" he asked.

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"I'd deliberately make it explode. I love explosions! Huh. Maybe that was why I kept being sent to Arkham?" I wondered aloud.

"What?" Malfoy asked.

"I. Like. Blowing. Things. Up," I spelled out.

"Granger, just listen. I need a good grade so I can get out of this school sooner than planned, and half the grade is working together. So be a good girl and start to help, or I will curse you to the net millennia. Understood?" he hissed. He sounded like my brother for a split second of time. I nodded, and got to work. My brother scared me sometimes. Malfoy, for some reason, reminded me of Jay.

Draco

Why does everything always seem to get worse when it should get better? I have been asking myself this question for ages, and it never will be answered. Maybe it is because my family has been a chaotic mess for as long as I can remember, and there is no way to fix it.

My Aunt Bellatrix has been in prison since I was two. I have only seen my Aunt Andromeda maybe twice since I was born. My father is a Death Eater and is now in Azkaban. The Dark Lord murdered my mother because of my father's failure. Oh and to top it off, I'M BEING SENT TO LIVE WITH AN AUNT UNCLE AND COUSIN I NEVER EVEN KNEW EXSISTED.

And I am mad with my mother for never telling me that she had two younger siblings that were disowned after learning that they were squibs when they were eleven. My mother had it sent up if anything ever happened to her, that I would be sent to my _forgotten _family under the name that my mother named, Drake Andrew Black, so that my father and the Dark Lord can't get to me. I know I shouldn't be mad with her, but I am anyways.

I know that I am never coming back to Hogwarts after this year. I have asked all the Professor's to tutor me in all the subjects that I would take in my seventh year so I can get a diploma and never have to come back. If I finish my education, I can leave the wizarding world and never come back. In all my classes, I have been working on my own for simple reason that I can get a lot farther than anyone else much quicker.

So when I heard that the Gryffindor mudblood was back after her unexplained absence, I was mad. Even more so when Snape put her with me for potions. But when I saw her for the first time in months, it was clear that Granger had major issues, and the bookworm I thought the school knew was long gone and never coming back. She walked into class about eight minutes late, and she there was nothing about her that was like her. Her long hair was gone, and replaced with short, choppy hair with crudely cut bangs and streaked purple throughout her hair. She had a wicked glint in her eye that screamed DANGER, and she talked back to Snape!

Whatever had sent her away in the first place, I could tell was not the reason she didn't immediately come back. Granger said that she was in the hospital, but mentioned it was also a prison. And I was too caught up in my analyzing that I barely caught that she was sent to sit next to me.

"Aren't you going to help, Granger?" I asked.

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"I'd deliberately make it explode. I love explosions! Huh. Maybe that was why I kept being sent to Arkham?" One second she was talking to me, then she was talking to herself.

"What?" I asked in shock. Granger would never purposely try and ruin a potion. Then again, something wasn't right about her.

"I. Like. Blowing. Things. Up," she spelled out.

"Granger, just listen. I need a good grade so I can get out of this school sooner than planned, and half the grade is working together. So be a good girl and start to help, or I will curse you to the net millennia. Understood?" I hisses at her. She got a startled look in her eye and started to work. She muttered something about a Jay and a brother. Since when did Granger have a brother?

We worked in silence the rest of the class. Well, more like I worked in silence. Granger sang quietly to herself. The same verse in a song, over and over again. _How many lives will we take, how many hearts destined to break, nowhere to run, can't escape, full of ourselves, tied to our fate, the end is knocking, the end is knocking, yeah. _

Towards the end of class I was wondering what she was singing.

"Granger, what are you muttering?" I demanded. I never said I was nice about it.

She turned and stared at me. Her eyes bore into mine. "How many lives will we take. How many hearts destined to break. Nowhere to run, can't escape. Full of ourselves. Tied to our fate. The end is knocking. The end is knocking."

"What is that supposed to mean?" I exclaimed.

"It's lyrics to a song that I listen to at home, it's called lost by Avenged Sevenfold. You seem a bit lost, kind of how I feel a lot. When you can't hide, run, escape, so you avoid your fate. I may seem like a person with a perfect life, but mine is nowhere near perfect. Neither is yours, Malfoy." And with that, Hermione Granger got up and left the classroom. Leaving a sense of _what just happened_ through the entire class.

* * *

I left the dungeons and headed for the room of requirement. The only place that I felt I could be alone. Everywhere else in the school was impossible to have any privacy. I didn't feel like visiting Moaning Myrtle today. She was a good friend, even if she was a ghost. She was lonely, too. But today, my mind was on Hermione Granger. Her words ran through my head. The thing that had me the most was tied to our fate.

Was I tied to my fate? I wish that it didn't end at the hands of the Dark Lord.

By that point, I had heard that Hermione had broken Weasley's arm in the class before for losing control of her anger. Rumor was she was sent to a mental hospital in Gotham on a court order. I wasn't sure if it was true, but it scared me that Granger could even break an arm.

Wait. Gotham.

That was where my mother's family lived! My Aunt Flower, my Uncle Orion, and Flower's son Jonathon. Orion's last name was still Black, but somewhere along the line Flower married, and her son took a different last name. As far as mother knew in the letter she had written. Flower's husband was dead, and my cousin was a doctor in the local Asylum.

Maybe I should be a little bit worried about going to live in Gotham.

* * *

A/N: I lied when I said it would be a few weeks. Inspiration struck, and here is the next chapter.

So. I don't own Avenged Sevenfold's Lost.

Thank you to all the reviewers of the last chapter. And please review!—Delta


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Batman.

* * *

Ron

I am furious at Hermione. Whatever happened to her had made her go nuts. She was in that town for two weeks before she ended up in a mental hospital. When we saw her in that nut house, she tried to attack us and hurt us. We saw why she was there, and when she returned to Hogwarts from Gotham, she was off.

Now, she goes off her rocker on a SIMPLE question about her liking a bat. Her mood swung into a frenzy. She was calm, then hysterical, angry and laughing again. It wasn't normal, and she broke my arm and didn't even seem to notice.

I am angry at my best friend because she hurt me. There is something unnatural about her. She isn't right. She would never injure me if she wanted to.

The portrait swung open and Hermione walked in. Her short choppy hair was in her face, as well as her robes being scorched. She was smiling and walked over to me where harry and I were sitting.

"Ronald," she said shortly. Madam Pomfrey would only give me a numbing potion when she set my arm and put it in a cast. Apparently it would heal stronger that way.

"Yes, Hermione?" I said. She sounded like she was making herself bleed and biting her tongue as she said that.

"I apologize for breaking your arm in two. The issues with my emotions got the better of me." It was clear that it was difficult to say.

"Thank you, Hermione." She left to her common room without another word.

"She made an effort, Ron. She may have gotten slightly better in her time in the hospital. Give her that," Harry told me.

"Yeah. Maybe."

Mae

Why do I even care? I didn't care before. Oh! Appearances. You got to keep up appearances before you reveal your whereabouts!

I skipped into the common room to find that my roommates aren't there. I laid down on my bed. I was bored. Joker gave me all types of chemicals and explosives for me to mess around with. Wait. No desk or lab table. How am I going to create chaos without a place to create to _magic? _I looked around the room in search of something to make a lab out of.

Sleep. Who needs sleep? Where is that small vial of gasoline? AH HAH! Bye-bye mattress and pillow! I lit the match that I found in my pocket and dropped it on the beds mattress that was covered in gas. It caught in fire so quickly it made me wonder how long it had been sitting there. Or how long it had been since the school go new mattresses. Once they were nothing but ashes, and the frame was all that was left, I began to repurpose it and turned it into a makeshift lab.

"Hermione? WHAT ON EARTH DID YOU DO TO YOUR BED?" Lavender exclaimed.

I looked at her. "The drugs that Dr. Crane gave me for medical purposes keep me up at night so I don't sleep. No point of a bed if it isn't going to be used. This experiments lab I will use. Don't question it!"

Paravati and Lavender stared at me. I got back to work on recreating the SmileX Fear. The non-lethal version, which could cause long term side effects, wait. It will cause long term side effects of random excessive laughing, and often attacks of extreme fear. If I get it right, and I don't end up blowing up the entire castle, my brother will be both proud and disappointed. Maybe I should blow up the boat house or the Shrieking Shack. That will be a performance of the ages.

No! Mae, you need to keep up appearances. No new explosions until at least New Years.

It isn't healthy to talk to myself in my head. So why do I continue to do so? Maybe for a psychotic mad man, Jonathan is right about me being a psychopath. If Jonathan is right, and he is my doctor, maybe I should start taking my medicines?

"Hermione, is something wrong?" Lavender asked.

"Oh, just remembered that my doctor and my psychiatrist will have my head if I refuse to take my medicines again. Like I do when I'm in Gotham. Or when my magical Guardians put up blocks in my head that prevent me from doing too much damage to the people at school."

"Alright, Granger. Whatever you say." She went back to ignoring me, as I got back to work on my explosive gas. I think the pair left at one point in time.

Ginny

"What do you mean that Hermione's lost it?" I asked Paravati and Lavender when they came into my dorm.

"She burnt her mattress and bed and used the remains of the bed to turn it into some freaky potions lab with no actual potions ingredients. Most of what she had on her shelf had warnings on them!" Lavender exclaimed.

"Hermione kept muttering to herself and didn't even seem to realize it," Paravati added.

"Do we even want to know what happened to her?"

"I don't even know myself. She won't tell me a thing," I told the pair. "I think she may have had some mental issues in the past, and they are coming back. I saw her once in the hospital, how she is now is a huge difference to when I saw her a month and a half ago."

"Really?"

"Do either of you know what a strait jacket is?" They nodded. "She was in one of those, singing to herself about death, and destruction. Then she tried to attack us in the blink of an eye. Hermione didn't even know who we were."

"Oh my god. We didn't know."

"I think there was another reason she was in that place. I don't think I even want to know." They left, and I went to go see Hermione myself. She was asleep at her lab desk and was singing in her sleep. I scanned through her stuff, and my eyes landed on a photo of Hermione and….Jonathan Crane.

No wonder he looked so familiar. What really was going on with her?

* * *

Hi! This was a filler chapter if you didn't figure it out. Don't worry. I have major event planned for the next few chapters. And the next chapter shouldn't take that long to get posted. I thought it was funny that the character that feels no remorse for anything apologized. Until next time—Delta


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Batman

**If you have any sympathy towards cats, I highly advise not reading this chapter.**

* * *

Harry

Ron and I went down to breakfast to find Hermione writing a letter while unconsciously eating a bagel. We sat down and she didn't seem to notice us there. We just started to eat before we headed off to classes.

"Hermione? What are you doing?" Ginny asked, when she came in.

"Writing a letter to my brother," she said not bothering to look up at her friend.

"What for?"

"An early Christmas present. Why do you want to know?" Hermione spat.

"Curiosity." Ginny shrugged.

"Curiosity killed the cat," I said to Ginny.

"Curiosity killed the cat?" Hermione inquired with wide eyes.

"Yeah. Why?"

"I have something else to ask for other than explosive chemicals. Her eyes glinted as she furiously wrote something else down before putting it in an envelope and sealing it with some sort of sticky white stuff. "I need to send this. Later!"

"Well, this just proves that Hermione is getting stranger as the month goes on," Ron muttered under his breath.

"I need to get to potions. I'll see you two later." Ginny got up and left for the dungeons.

After I finished breakfast, I followed Ginny's lead and headed to class. We went passed Mrs. Norris who eyed us keenly as we went passed. Freaky, over observant cat.

Mae

I'm getting a present! I'm getting a present! Hopefully the school owl won't die on the way to Gotham. I really don't care for owls that much. They are only good for carrying mail. I will crush the owl—or my brother—if I don't get my presents. I'm almost out of chemicals, and I'm so close to perfecting my SmileX Fear gas.

If I don't get those chemicals, there will be hell on earth. Then there is also the tool of prying that I will be expecting.

Curiosity kill the cat.

I walked out of the dorm that night and just wandered around the castle. I guess I had a curious nature.

Of course, I, like everyone else, knew it wasn't the best idea to be wandering for fear of being caught by Filch. Then again that fear didn't affect me, never did. But the goody-two-shoes conscience; my magical guardians put in my mind when they put up the mental blocks, always got the best of me before now.

I wasn't scared of getting detention for being out of bed. I no longer even had a bed. So technically I couldn't be accused for anything. Unlike in Gotham….there's a long list there: murder, homicide, trespassing, damage of public property, damage of private property, etc.

So I ended up sitting in an abandoned corridor, when a snooty, sneaky, tattletale cat decided to show her face for a moment. We met eyes, then the cat vanished. I didn't feel like moving until I heard the greasy voice of Filch from another corridor. I left then.

Curiosity killed the cat.

Wait. Curiosity. Killed. The. Cat.

Joker better get me that present. Sooner than later.

Ron

I know I forgave Hermione after what she did to me. But still, she gave me the creeps. This morning, she got an owl with two packages. Both were wrapped in brown paper. She jumped up excitedly, and ran out of the room.

She missed Transfiguration, but she did show up to potions.

Draco

For some reason, I'm still paired up with Granger for potions. She came in and sat down next to me, and got to work on our potion. The entire time, I don't think Granger said one word. There was this weird grin on her face. It freaked me out a bit. I had gotten used to her muttering to herself and singing.

Almost immediately after we were dismissed, she ran out of the room. I sighed. Snape had assigned us an essay that was due in three days, and I really wanted to be alone to work on it. So I headed up to the Room of Requirement. I pushed the door open, not expecting to find Granger holding a muggle tool and a can of what looked like paint.

"Granger, what are you doing in here?" I hissed at her.

"Why should I tell you?" She snapped right back at me, and returned to spraying the tool purple.

"I dunno. Maybe because I'm curious?"

"Curiosity killed the cat. And this is what I plan to do with this baby," she said looking at the tool. What is that even supposed to mean? Why do I continue to talk to this girl?

"What is that in your hand?"

"A can of spray paint." Well that solves one mystery.

"The other thing?" I deadpanned.

"Oh this? It's called a crowbar. Used to pry things open and off of things."

"Why are you painting it purple?"

"My brother and I use it for more useful things than what is meant for. I'm just personalizing it."

"So you are planning to do what with the crowbar?"

"You ask a lot of questions; and it isn't any of your business. If you knew who I really am, it wouldn't be a question. But I'm not going to tell you."

"Hermione, is there a reason why you have been acting so weird lately? Whatever happened to you, Snape actually likes you because you aren't acting like a know-it-all anymore."

"I could ask you the same thing, Malfoy. What made you become not such a bully anymore? And why is you hair black and why are you so secluded?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"I won't answer you until you answer me!" She sang. Maybe it wasn't that big of a deal. But I really wanted to know. Why do I want to know anything about Hermione Granger?

"My mother was killed a few months ago, and my father wants me to become a Death Eater. Apparently my mother named me something different, and I am to go live in Gotham with an aunt and uncle I never knew about. My mother had put glamour charms on me to disguise my hair and eyes. My real name is Drake Black."

"Oh. Sorry about your mother."

"What about you."

"My real name is Jean Mae Napier. I live with my brother when I'm not here or in Arkham Asylum. I won't tell you the whole reason I am how I am other than a part of it has to do with fear gas and mental torture while in the asylum." Wait. Arkham? Doesn't my cousin work there?

"Did you say that you were in Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane?"

"No, the only other Asylum that takes in mentally unstable people! What Arkham did you think!" She shouted.

"Just wondering if you knew my cousin. He works there."

"I have known almost every doctor, nurse, security guard, patient and criminal that has ever been in that hellhole."

"So you would know Jonathan Crane?" I asked her.

"Know him? He's a close family friend. I've known him since I was nine."

"He's picking me up at the end of the school year to go to Gotham."

"And you've never met him?"

"Uh-huh."

"I'd be happy to introduce you, Drake!" She exclaimed. "I have to get to dinner. There is something business I need to attended to with a certain cat tonight." She walked out of the room with the crowbar in her hand. It left me wondering what she was really going to doing with that crowbar.

Mae

I crept out of the dorm that night and headed to the third floor corridor. The same one that we were banned form the first year. I had on my red skirt, combat boots green top, and purple jacket with the hood up and my crowbar up my sleeve.

I stood in the corridor for no longer than ten minutes before the slippery Mrs. Norris showed her face. Her yellow eyes examined the room before I slammed the door. She saw my face without its glamour charm and hissed at me.

"You're not going anywhere this time, Mrs. Norris." I slipped my crowbar into my hand, and her sharp intimidating eyes got wide and fearful; something that I never thought that cat could ever accomplish. She took a few steps back as I got closer.

"Are you afraid, scaredy-cat? I was never afraid of you or your master. You used to wander the halls getting children into trouble for being out of bed. That ends. Right. Now!" I said, hitting her front legs multiple times. She yelped. I laughed.

"Did that hurt?" I broke the fur on her legs, and then then the legs until they were no longer usable. Blood seeped out. "Well that's only the beginning!" I yelled bringing the bar down on her back.

"Isn't this fun Mrs. Norris?" I brought it down on her back legs, crushing them on the first time.

"It better be. I'm going to make you smile when you die. You are begging for death, aren't you?" I continued my attack. Until she was a bloody mess. One final blow to the head, and she died, her brains spilling out of her skull.

I pulled a knife from my jacket and carved a smile into her face. I admired my work of the cat, she was barely recognizable. Filch is going to be crushed. I hung her up with where she was found petrified in second year.

Tomorrow was going to be one helluva day. Oh yes, there would be chaos.

* * *

I went back to the Room of Requirement to clean the blood from my crowbar and knife. I hope that Joker likes my picture of Mrs. Norris.

Curiosity got Mrs. Norris killed.

Curiosity killed the cat.

* * *

Smiles. Hi? So what did you think? Were you expecting that? I never really liked Mrs. Norris and Cats freak me out, so, it was weird to write. Comments? Concerns? Next chapter will have the school's reaction. –Delta


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